The 24 riders were all on the ground by 11:20 p.m. Dallas Fire-Rescue said all of the occupants were safely removed from the ride after it was manually lowered.

Dallas police said fair officials provided the riders with blankets and refreshments once they were on the ground and that the fire department was on hand to provide any needed medical attention.

State Fair of Texas representatives said the Stratosphere would remain closed for the remainder of the fair's run.

This year's fair ends Sunday.

Power was restored to the ride by 10:50 p.m., but there appeared to be some issue that prevented the ride from immediately lowering its passengers.

Stradtman told NBC 5 that someone had climbed the center of the tower at about 9:40 p.m. and appeared to manually try to bring them down. She said a friend who was not on the ride said there was some kind of mechanical difficulty.